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About Centor

The world is beautiful. At Centor, we believe in connecting people with the world outside.

As a third-generation family business, Centor has spent the last 66-years innovating systems for bifold and sliding doors and windows. Designing and manufacturing these systems to connect homes and businesses with the world around them has seen Centor become the leading component supplier to door and window companies around the globe.

An established name in the window and door industry, Centor is proud to supply hardware systems across the United Kingdom and Europe from its headquarters in Birmingham, England.

Centor’s International Head Office and Product Design Centre is located in Brisbane, Australia on the original site company was founded in 1951. As a global business, Centor manufactures and distributes in five regions around the world, including the United States, Europe and China.

Established by Frank and then guided by Erwin, Centor is now led by grandson Nigel

Award-winning

Centor has received national & international recognition for its systems that delight

Global company

From beginnings in Brisbane we have expanded into the US, UK, Europe and China

Design-led

As a design-led company we apply design methodologies to our business strategy

Our history

German-born engineer Frank Spork founded Centor in Brisbane, Australia, in 1951. Frank’s single-minded goal was to produce the finest sliding patio doors track available. This dedication to quality and innovation has been constant across three generations and over six decades of history at Centor.

Centor evolved as Frank’s reputation grew for producing solid, dependable products that delivered silky-smooth performance. The family business expanded under the guidance of Frank’s son Erwin Spork and is today managed by Frank’s grandson Nigel Spork.

Throughout the decades, Centor has forged a reputation for designing and manufacturing the industry’s leading window and door systems. In 1998, Centor designed and patented hardware for the modern, weather sealed bifold door enabling them to be used as exterior openings for the first time. This transformed the market, allowing architects to design homes which could now connect people to the world outside. Centor initially introduced this technology throughout Australia and then worked with architects in the UK, Europe and North America – where Centor is the leading component supplier today.

In 2010, Centor was introduced to Design Led Innovation, a method of strategically changing a business. Within six months, the company invested significant resources into designing and delivering the world’s first Integrated Door. Centor has delivered on this vision, launching the doors in the US and the UK to international acclaim.

Research & Development

There are many people involved in the specification, design, production and installation of windows and doors and each of these parties has different requirements.

When we embark on a new product, our designers travel to meet with leading architects, specifiers, joiners and window and door companies. We talk to a variety of people in a wide range of roles to get information about the real issues they face and the benefits they’d like to see. From this, we arrive at the definitive idea of how a great product should work.

Our key objectives in R&D can be captured with a simple phrase: whatever we design must be ‘‘easy to install and a delight to use’’.

“Easy to install” means built-in design features that assist both assembly in the factory and installation on site, as well as manufacturing aids such as dedicated drill jigs, door calculation software, online ordering and profile matched router bits.

“Delight to use” not only means a high-quality, well-functioning product, but also one that is compelling to the consumer – folding door systems that open up a house, sliding systems that create extra living space, dropbolts that add style as well as security.